Koko ni Matteru
by yukuro
Summary: Inui has always had two special people to think of. After his match with one of them, and an old friend, he finds one to be more precious than before. [InuixKaidoh], [Spoilers for ep. 123]


**Disclaimer:** n_n; I can only watch Tenipuri in awe of its wonderful-ness… *sigh*

**Pairing:** InuixKaidoh

**Warning:** Spoiler for ep. 123, the match with Inui vs. Yanagi

            Koko ni Matteru

                        by: yukuro

            Kaidoh was the last person he saw before he stepped out onto the court for a match he would always remember. At that time, Inui didn't think much about the younger boy. His mind was set completely on defeating Yanagi. That, however, didn't last long. From the start to the very end of the match, each time Inui so much as glanced towards the bleachers crowded with Seigaku students, he would always specifically notice Kaidoh stood firmly on his side with a supportive look. Just as always…

            Onlookers and supporters of Seigaku were nervously perched on the edge of the benches or edging on their feet. All the Regulars remained as close as possible to the court without actually being on it. All the Regulars, except Kaidoh that was.

            The moment Inui had gone out to the court, Kaidoh felt himself backing slowly towards the center of the crowd. For what reason, he was still unsure of at that moment. It may have been partly because of the uncomfortable feeling he felt whenever his tall senpai turned to stare distantly at Yanagi Renji. Kaidoh wasn't a selfish person though. For all he cared, Inui could stare at whomever he wanted. That didn't mean it made Kaidoh feel particularly pleased about it though.

            The second year Regular had never really felt so awkward around anyone else before. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel. Somehow though, each time he watched Inui return the tennis ball over the net with all his might, Kaidoh felt some strangely warm sensations brewing within him he had never felt before. Strange, he thought, but there was nothing he could do about that for now. The most he could do at that time was to simply stand in the crowd, watching silently.

            There were a few times Kaidoh wondered if Inui had noticed him there amongst the large group of blue-clad fellow second years, away from the Regulars. It was a stupid thought though. Inui wasn't stupid enough to take his eyes off the match, ever. Kaidoh would have been the same way. It wasn't the same when Inui watched him though. Anyone else's eyes following him intently would have been a simple thing to shrug off. Inui's gaze was different. It made his skin tingle.

            Kaidoh followed Inui from side to side from the stands. Each time Inui switched sides of the court, Kaidoh would walk across the crowd to stand on the same side. He needed to be just a little closer to his senpai; as much as possible, but he never did work up enough nerve to walk down to the front of crowd and loudly cheer the older boy on. Quietly from where he stood in the middle of the crowd, he could only whisper, "Ganbare, Inui-senpai."

            Maybe it was their developing connection that had made Inui look up. The moment the whisper barely escaped Kaidoh's lips, Inui looked up into the crowd of students and spotted Kaidoh instantly. A tired yet reassuring smile appeared on his face. _I'll never give up, and I'll definitely never lose._

            It wasn't the first time Kaidoh had felt that Inui had somehow read his mind. He nodded his head slightly towards his senpai on the court before he closed his eyes and Inui turned his back. Kaidoh Kaoru had never been a person to be jealous of someone else, but for some reason, each time he heard Inui call out, "Renji" in a wistful kind of way, his nerves boiled.

            _Who am I to be jealous of Inui-senpai's old friend?_ Kaidoh thought bitterly to himself as Inui engaged in another long rally with Yanagi. His eyes should have been following the yellow tennis ball as it flew back and forth over the net, but his eyes were glued to Inui. Tearing his eyes away, Kaidoh walked to the top of the benches and walked along the end. Although he wasn't, Kaidoh suddenly felt extremely far away from his senpai as he stood at the top of the bleachers. It was probably because while his eyes were glued to Inui, Inui's eyes were glued to Yanagi.

            He hadn't realized he had closed his eyes until blackness surrounded him. He was nervous. Partly because of the match, obviously. This match was probably the most crucial through the tournament. This was the match that would be deciding whether Seigaku would once again be defeated by Rikkai, or seize another chance towards their dreams for victory. What was the other thing to be worried about? It was probably because it was Yanagi that Inui was playing.

            _Inui-senpai is close to Yanagi. If Inui-senpai didn't care so much about him, he wouldn't have trained so extraneously beforehand. Because it's important to Inui-senpai to beat Yanagi…_

            Kaidoh suddenly remembered a few days before the day of their match with Rikkai Dai Fuzoku. He had found it part of his regular routine to train daily with Inui. It was a little strange the way Inui had eased himself so easily into Kaidoh's life. They had jogged lightly for quite a ways until they found themselves at a wall with their rackets in hand.

            "There are no courts anywhere around here, but why don't we play against the wall for a little while?" Inui had said pleasantly with a relaxed smile on his face as he bounced a tennis ball a few times. Setting his notebook to the side, Inui gripped his racket and faced the wall. "It'll be a tough match against Rikkai, Kaidoh. Seigaku…has a very low chance of victory. We'll have to train hard."

            "I know," Kaidoh said quietly in response. He watched in silence as Inui gripped his racket handle until his knuckles turned white with one hand and the other was squeezing the tennis ball just as hard. "We can't give up though," the younger boy went on quietly, still staring at his senpai's hands. "No matter how hopeless it seems, we can never give up."

            Hands relaxing, Inui froze for a moment before turning to smile at the younger boy. "That's right, Kaidoh. We can only do our best, right? Then lets train hard to strengthen ourselves as much as possible. Maybe then our 'best' will be enough to defeat Rikkai."

            "Inui-senpai…" Before Kaidoh could mutter another word, the yellow ball flew toward him. As quickly as he could, he twisted his racket and hit it directly back at the wall. To his surprise, Inui didn't hit it back to the wall again. The tennis ball rolled on the ground.

            "Zettai akiramenai, Kaidoh," Inui said, a smile gracing his face as he lifted his hand to rest on Kaidoh's shoulder. As if to encourage himself, Inui repeated, "Zettai. Makenai."

            Kaidoh could only stand looking up at his senpai's somewhat sadly smiling face for a little while before he turned his face to the side. His skin was tingling with a pleasant warmth where Inui's hand lay on his shoulder. "You don't have to tell me, Inui-senpai."

            "I know I don't," the tall third year said gently, looking towards the sky. "I never had to tell you that. You have always been strong enough to know that. I'm…proud of you."

             It seemed like an awkward thing to say at the time, Kaidoh had thought, but even so, everything was still right in its place. Closing his eyes for a moment, Kaidoh mumbled in return, "Same to you…Inui-senpai…"

            Inui simply smiled. His smile was still a little weak, but determination was set in his face. Kaidoh thought that if he could see Inui's eyes at that moment, those eyes surely would have been shining with determination.

            _Zettai akiramenai. Zettai makenai…_

            Over and over, like the tennis ball hitting the wall to the ground and back to the racket, those words were repeated. Those words didn't only come from Inui's lips though. Kaidoh was sure he had heard everyone say it before. Echizen, Fuji, Momoshiro… Everyone would always be trying their hardest, no matter what the situation. How much did those words cost though? "Never give up" is more difficult than it sounds. "Never lose" was the same. Was it worth it to work until one's hands were rubbed red with practice?

            Past an hour's time, Kaidoh finally took a step back to sit and rest. Inui soon joined him on the ground, both facing the sunset. Looking straight ahead, Inui commented, "The sun's setting. I hadn't noticed."

            The second year thought it was strange at first for Inui not to notice something, but after seeing the intense way the third year was simply practicing, Kaidoh quickly changed his mind. He chose to stay silent, as usual, as Inui sat upright and quickly wrote something down in his notebook before setting it aside.

            "Maybe it's time to finish up," Inui said slowly, standing up. Glancing at Kaidoh with a grin, he raised his hand. "Ah, well it's not good for us to be sitting down after a hard workout. Well then. Why not run a few laps to cool down. If you don't finish in time, you can help yourself to some of my new Inui Juice."

            Twitching slightly, Kaidoh eyed his senpai for a moment, wondering if he was joking. He blinked when a hand extended towards him as an offer to help him up. He was just about to remark that he could get to his feet on his own, but then again, the warm tingling sensation that worked up his insides by their hands touching seemed much better. So Kaidoh let Inui pull him up to his feet. He hadn't even noticed that Inui held onto his hand a bit longer than necessary.

            Pulling his hand away, Inui adjusted his glasses and renewed his smile at Kaidoh. "So then, Kaidoh. How about five laps around this park?"

            "Are you coming?" Kaidoh blurted by accident. He quickly shut his mouth, remembering that he was speaking to his senpai after all. Kouhai were supposed to treat their senpai with respect.

            Chuckling lightly, Inui stated with light amusement, "I think you'll be alright without me. Besides, I'd like to work a little more before we finish for today." Smiling at the younger boy, Inui said softly, "Don't worry about anything. I'll be here waiting for you."

            Nodding numbly, Kaidoh took off, jogging down the pathway. He looked over his shoulder only once, and that was enough to see Inui adding more lead blocks to ankles. It was a long and lonely jog around the park. Kaidoh had just began to become used to Inui's presence wherever he went. Now that he was alone, his insides felt a bit hollow.

            It didn't take long for Kaidoh to finish running all the laps. It was probably an encouragement to run faster so he could be with Inui again. He walked slowly towards the wall where Inui was practicing. The second year halted in his tracks and watched his senpai in silence from behind. Inui was panting hard and sweating. A lot.

            "We'll finish our match for sure this time, Renji," Inui muttered to the air, unaware of the fact that Kaidoh stood not too far behind him, listening to every word. "I absolutely cannot accept it if we don't. It wasn't easy to meet up with you again after so many years…Renji…"

            Just barely, Kaidoh was able to see Inui's hands. They were red, cut and bleeding from rubbing against the rough tennis grip for such a long time. All of it was for Yanagi…

            "Game Seigaku Inui!

            The eruption of excited shouts made Kaidoh snap out of his thoughts. He quickly hurried back towards the center of the crowd where he could see Inui better. Kaidoh instantly paused when he saw Inui standing near the bench with a pair of broken glasses in his hand. He felt as if his legs were glued down. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't get any closer.

            Just as Inui lifted his head with another pair of glasses, he blinked a few times behind his glasses in surprise to see Echizen standing before him with thumbs up. He felt a grin drawing on his face when he realized it was Kikumaru holding up the younger boy's hand for him. The redhead was smiling widely. Beside him, the Regulars were lined up, all with their thumbs up, as well as all the Seigaku students behind them. There was one person Inui was looking for though. He scanned the crowd of blue until he spotted a spot of white.

            Kaidoh opened his eyes and took a short breath before staring back down at Inui. He nodded slightly and held up his hand, thumb up, with the rest of Seigaku. _Zettai akiramenai, Inui-senpai. Zettai…makenai…_

            Smiling when he noted that Kaidoh was still supporting him, Inui flashed the thumbs up sign back to the others. No one had really noticed that his eyes were locked on a certain person though. Inui felt his eyes connect with Kaidoh for a moment, and the message was already through. _I'll never give up, Kaidoh. Never. Just wait for me there. I'll come back in victory for sure._

            _I'll be waiting for you here._

            Once again, Inui's back was turned. This time, however, Kaidoh felt that Inui wasn't turning away from him. He was simply overcoming a few more steps in his way. _I'll definitely be waiting for you here…_

            The tension in the air heightened and more and more people jumped to their feet in anticipation of the match. Whenever it seemed to be drawing towards a close, another point was won in the tiebreaker, and they were back to where they had started again.

            Most people seemed to be anxious and nervous. But as Kaidoh stood in the middle of the crowd of blue, watching his senpai's moves silently, he felt calm. Inui would win for sure. Kaidoh closed his eyes with a faint outline of a smile as Seigaku erupted into cheers of victory. _Inui-senpai wouldn't keep me waiting…_

            Time seemed to drag as Kaidoh joined the other Regulars from the crowd and Inui heading towards them from the court. Each of the Regulars happily clapped Inui on the back for a job well done, and in Kikumaru's case, leaped onto his back. Soon the Regulars parted towards the side, leaving Inui and Kaidoh alone.

            Seeing his kouhai standing nearby, Inui turned to face him and smiled gently. "I'm sorry. Were you worried?"

            "No," Kaidoh said, turning his face to the side slightly. He closed his eyes and a smile appeared on his face. "I knew you would win." Holding out a towel, Kaidoh smiled softly at the older boy. "Otsukaresama."

            Reaching out with a grin, Inui took the towel and held his hand over Kaidoh's. "I won thanks to you," he said sincerely, gripping the other warm hand tightly. The sun tinted his glasses, and for a moment, Kaidoh could see his eyes. "I learned from you. Also…I knew I could keep fighting hard because each time I turned around, I could see you standing in the crowd watching me supportively. Because you were waiting there for me, I had to come back in a hurry. Did you wait for me long…Kaidoh?"

            Closing his eyes again, Kaidoh didn't bother to pull his hand away. "No," he replied quietly, his fingers being intertwined with Inui's with the towel between their palms. "It wasn't too long. I would have waited here anyway. For…as long as you needed…"

            "Thank you." It didn't seem to occur to Inui to let go of Kaidoh's hand. His just barely healed hand felt pleasant in contact with Kaidoh's cool skin. Smiling slightly, he said, "You're the most important one to me, Kaidoh. Because you've already helped me defeat the past."

            _Shitteru yo? Zutto zutto koko ni matteru…ore wa…_

            Owari.

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**A/N:** *sigh* Y_Y; I think I'm starting to like this pairing more and more. *snicker* After watching episode 123, those two were just so slashy, I couldn't help it! ////;;

n_n;; I really like Yanagi too though… *long sigh* why are they all so cute?! XD  
  
Ah, well I hope you've enjoyed reading this! ^^;; Sorry for the spoilers! Thanks and review if you can!


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